Thursday, April 30, 2009

Full-Court Press, April 30

- Former Kansas forward Quintrell Thomas has narrowed his transfer list down to three: UNLV, Siena and Saint Joseph's. The St. Patrick (N.J.) product's history with the Runnin' Rebels could play a factor.

- Arizona sophomore Zane Johnson will leave the Wildcats and transfer to another school, UA announced earlier today. He started 13 games this past season.

- Florida transfer Allan Chaney told the Providence Journal last week that his top two prospective schools were Providence and Virginia Tech. However, Adam Zagoria reported yesterday that Chaney will also visit Saint Joseph's, Temple and either Rutgers, Xavier or Seton Hall.

- The Philadelphia Daily News has confirmed a story originally reported on OwlScoop.com that Kansas State transfer Ron Anderson took an official visit to Temple this past weekend. VCU is also apparently in the mix for the 6-8 forward.

- Brewster Academy product Reggie Moore has signed with Washington State, choosing the Cougars over Oregon, Iowa State, Memphis and UCLA.

- 2010 recruit Ralph Hill has committed to Dayton. The 6-6 forward from Columbus chose the Flyers over Akron, and was also getting looks from Butler, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sidney and USC Parting Ways

As first rumored on Scout.com and subsequently reported on several other recruiting sites, high school All-American Renardo Sidney is not going to play at USC next season. A report in the Los Angeles Times Wednesday morning indicated that Sidney and USC had discussed the situation, and agreed to part ways in the recruiting process.

According to the report, the Sidney family was apprehensive regarding the allegations and NCAA investigation surrounding former Trojans O.J. Mayo and football star Reggie Bush. On the other side, the Trojans were originally worried about Sidney's eligibility, but he received a passing SAT score and had grades in 16 classes, which are necessary in order to be cleared by the NCAA.

Sources told the Times that Sidney has only one other option on the table at this point: Mississippi State. "Asked if Mississippi State is the front-runner to sign Sidney," the report reads, "the source close to the family said the Bulldogs were 'the only runner.'" Sidney is not looking into playing in Europe, a la Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Tyler.

Sidney is a 6-11 big man with a tremendous amount of talent, but he does not always work hard and tends to drift at times. When he is on, though, he is one of the most difficult players in the country to defend. Sidney can score inside and out, and can even handle the ball. He is ranked No. 16 by Rivals.com, a far cry from his top-five consensus ranking just a couple of years ago.